“The Mountain Moves”
Cows are one of my favorite subjects. Every time I see one, I have a different reaction. Sometimes, I find them humorous. Sometimes, wise. Sometimes, threatening.
This time, I saw “gentle strength.”
As with a lot of my photographs, I shot this as I was - literally - pulled over on the side of the road. The area I was in made good use of cattle guards in the road, so the bull was no more than 20 feet away. I’m cautious around these creatures as a rule, but given that Mr. Longhorn was eating at the time I was not going to risk spooking him.
I saw the hills in the distance behind him, and figured I could bide my time for a good shot. I probably crawled along the shoulder of the road for 10 minutes, capturing multiple frames. This was one of the last I shot.
As a composition, I liked the way the back of the bull somewhat mirrored the ridge of the hill. The sky, of course, was doing it’s thing that day (for which I am always grateful), and I got lucky that the particular model I stumbled on had some interesting markings on his coat.
I’m taken by the two examples of strength in this image. The hill is composed primarily of rock and sparks feelings of grandeur and longevity. The bull is no less strong, but it must feed that strength. And then that strength can be taken anywhere.
That’s the kind of strength I want.
